“People who overdose on opioids have one lifeline, the drug naloxone, but two new studies find that many pharmacies won’t offer this lifesaving antidote without a doctor’s blessing.
Though many states have passed laws mandating that naloxone be made available without a prescription, researchers from California found that fewer than 25 percent of pharmacies in that state would give the drug without a prescription. And in the second study from Texas, investigators found that although 8 in 10 drugstores would dispense the drug, less than 7 in 10 had naloxone in stock.
Why? A lack of training, a lack of desire to make room for the drug on their shelves, and outright moral objections to giving an opioid user a medication that might encourage drug abuse, the scientists said.”
Read more at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-11-drugstores-wont-opioid-antidote-required.html
Source: MedicalExpress.com – November 13, 2018
See related article: Some pharmacies thwart efforts to improve access to the opioid overdose reversal drug available at: http://www2.philly.com/philly/health/some-pharmacies-thwart-efforts-to-improve-access-to-the-opioid-overdose-reversal-drug-20181114.html